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With Bitcoin coming onto the scene, financial
institutions are losing their importance and worldwide
money wiring is becoming quite a mundane process.
Soon, paying a contractor on another continent or
sending money to a friend will be as simple as
sending a text message.
The money wiring system is changing because of
Abra – a phone app that allows instant money wiring
between mobile phones around the world using
blockchain technology. The primary function of this
method is converting flat currency into bitcoins.

Okay, where is Abra… finding my boy Fernando… Sending… $1000… to… Cuba… Done! Thanks, bro, we had a great time. Now need to transfer some cash to Mathew for that Vegas party.

Today, wiring money to someone is as simply as sending an instant message. . Not that long ago, this process was difficult to imagine without the involvement of banks or a specially licensed money-wiring middlemen – and the money took several days to come.

Abra, the unique blockchain-based digital wallet app, allows for direct money transfer between mobile phones worldwide. The money is transferred electronically through blockchain from one user to another without involvement of any middleman (similar to how Uber works). During the transaction, flat currency is converted into cryptocurrency, which is then sent to the recipient through the blockchain. From there, it's converted in the currency of the recipient’s country. Unlike bank wires, the whole process takes less than a minute.

One investor of this startup is American Express. In short, Abra connects the seller and the buyer through cryptocurrency, and helps them with the transactions for a small fee, with everything done directly and instantly. All you need is to install the app and have the recipient’s mobile number in your phonebook. Send your money anywhere with just one click and without the banks knowing about it.

I started Abra with one goal and one goal only, to realize my vision of enabling any two people in the world to seamlessly and freely share money whether they had a bank account or not...Ultimately, Abra is just as much about economic opportunity, as it is about democratizing access to the digital economy

Bill Barhydt, CEO and Founder of Abra, World Economic Forum Innovator and Member of the US Department of State’s Millennium Development Goals Advisory Council

Abra is neither custodial nor the legal counterparty of the transactions; all is done via cell phone numbers. Using the new business model, we have removed ourselves from the funds flow and use the blockchain instead. Unlike other Bitcoin wallets, which are predicated on the user knowing and wanting bitcoin, we don’t require users to learn how to use Bitcoin.